|
Integrated Claims Management System for Georgia Workers' Compensation
Author: | Friday February 24, 2006
The Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation division representatives meet weekly to discuss the system and Cheryl Lowe, Supervisor of Claims is still smiling.
“The Trials and Errors of Greatness”
SBWC’s ICMS Document
Management System
By, Jan Dillard, Project Manager
The State Board of Workers' Compensation implemented their new ICMS electronic document management system on October 1st, 2005. We have made great progress and scanned over 100,000 documents in the past three months. While we have experienced some unexpected issues and had a few growing pains, we already see signs of greatness on our horizon.
The New Claim Number
The automated system generates a Claim Number for each new claim. This “Board Claim Number” appears on every form. It is a 10-digit number with the first four digits identifying the year the claim is created at the Board (not the year of the injury). This number is a unique identifier for the claim.
This unique identifier helps the Board manage the data about that claim and distinguish it from other claims. Once the data from the initiating claim is entered, the system will auto-populate the data in subsequent forms.
Please remember: if you are submitting claim-related information (other than an originating document such as a WC-1 or WC-14, Notice of Claim), you must include this unique claim number.
Electronic Notifications
Another important feature of ICMS is system-generated email notifications. To date, notifications for claim-initiating documents (WC-1s and WC-14s) are going out successfully. If you are a Party to the Claim, you will receive a notification that a WC-1 or WC-14 has been successfully submitted to the Board.
However, notifications for supplemental documents (all documents other than the WC-1 and WC-14) were going out with limited data on the notice.
The notice identified the new ICMS Board Claim Number and document type, but omitted relevant claim information for the recipient to determine which claim it is, when the recipient does not yet know the new claim number. This notice has now been revised. These email notices now contain the relevant claim information.
We have also discovered formatting issues in some notices, such as the date of injury formatted incorrectly by day/month/year. We are working to get these issues resolved. In addition, there was no email acknowledgment to the document submitter (who may not be party to the claim). This submitter email acknowledgment is being added.
Many people have responded to the Board’s request for primary and secondary email addresses. At this time, only the primary address is being used. Secondary addresses will not be activated until Phase 3.
Notifications to the Wrong Person
For insurers, email notifications are being sent to the individual identified as the SBWC corporate contact. This individual is often a regulatory or licensing officer, not a claims manager. We are working on a change that allows these corporate email addresses (which are in the database for licensing and permitting activities) to be omitted from receiving individual claim notifications.
Attorney Information
The Board is building a database for storing attorney information. This database includes contact information as well as the unique Georgia Bar number for each attorney. It is imperative that each attorney who practices Workers’ Compensation law in Georgia forwards the following information to ICMSprep@SBWC.ga.gov .
The Georgia Bar Number is critical.
Attorney Primary Email address
Alternate Email address
Phone Number
Georgia Bar Number
Attorney information is for each individual attorney, not a law firm. If an attorney wants claim-related information to go to a central law firm email address, they must submit this address as their primary email address.
Format and Accuracy
Board forms have been revised specifically to work with the new system. Every single form has been reviewed and revised as of July 1, 2005. DO NOT ALTER THE BOARD FORMS IN ANY WAY. Do not change the fields to reflect something different than what is on the form. If you are not sure which form to use, refer to the forms and Board Rules, and in particular Board Rule 61(b), on the SBWC website: www.sbwc.georgia.gov.
You must use the proper form to report the information. In addition, please send only one copy of a form to the Board. Do not submit multiple copies to Claims Processing and do not file more than one copy of legal documents going to a Judge, for example, a motion or brief.
If the information is not completed sufficiently for processing, it will be returned. The WC-1 is the most critical. The form must identify the employer, the insurance carrier or self-insured entity, as well as the claims office handling the claim. Please always complete the section for SBWC ID # which identifies the carrier or self-insured entity. This number can be located in an alphabetical listing on the SBWC website: www.sbwc.georgia.gov.
A look to the future
We have already created over 15,000 new claims. These are totally electronic claims. This number is growing every day. Thousands of other claims are in the system but they are a combination of paper and electronic data. We will continue to work in both worlds for quite some time. The new system challenges us as we work with a totally different way of life but we already see exciting new capabilities for easy and comprehensive access to information.
Ed. Note: Jan Dillard, Ph.D., PMP, is President and Founder of Glenridge Consulting Group, LLC, which specializes in Project Management for Information Technology projects, Glenridge provides project leaders and support personnel to augment existing technology system.
|
